There's one thing the new Batman game borrows from the worst Batman movies and it works incredibly well

As one of the most famous and well-known fictional cities in
popular culture, it's kind of amazing that there is almost zero
consistency in how its been represented from one popular Batman
adaptation to the next.

From the excessively Gothic architecture of Tim Burton's Gotham
in 1989's "Batman" ...

... to the slick, timeless Art Deco of Bruce Timm's animated
Gotham seen in "Batman: The Animated Series."

Warner
Bros.

There's something about Gotham City that inspires creators to
craft their own version of the city to match their version of
"the Batman." This even happens when the adaptations are
made by the exact same people — consider
how different the city looks in each of Christopher Nolan's
Bat-films.

The Gotham of "Batman
Begins" looked like a modern city with a few exaggerated
touches.Warner
Bros.

Those are gone in "The Dark Knight," which often looks
like the city it was shot in (Chicago).Warner Bros.

This trend continued in
"The Dark Knight Rises," but looks even more distinct thanks to
so much action happening in the daylight.Warner Bros.

The new video game "Batman: Arkham Knight" is the latest pop
culture riff on the famous comic book city, and the first one in
the "Arkham" trilogy of games to be explicitly set in the
entirety of Gotham. The first game, "Arkham Asylum," was entirely
confined to the titular institution — although it hinted at the
city's aesthetic when it featured its skyline in the
distance.

WB
Games

The second game, "Arkham City," came closer to depicting the
actual city, portraying the eponymous Arkham City as a
walled-off slum-turned-prison complex in the center of Gotham —
but it was hyperbolic by nature, an exaggerated playground for
the game's villains, with themed areas for each villain. Yet the
general aesthetic remained consistent — splashes of neon,
buildings built out of grime, steam vents and graffiti
galore.

For the final game in the "Arkham" trilogy (we're going to
exclude "Batman: Arkham Origins," a prequel developed by a
different studio), the developers at Rocksteady games have
completed their slow zoom out on Batman's world, opening up the
entirety of Gotham for players to explore. And the most
surprising thing about it is that the "Arkham" take on Gotham
has a lot in common with some of the worst
Batman movies.

The view from the highest
point in the Gotham of "Arkham Knight."WB Games

Joel Schumacher's Batman movies — "Batman Forever" and
"Batman &
Robin" — get a pretty bad rap. A lot of it is for a pretty
good reason ("Batman & Robin" is as close to objectively
awful as a movie can get), but some of the hate is rather unfair.

For one thing, it's easy to forget in our age of hyper-serious
and record-breaking superhero cinematic universes, that
Schumacher's Batman films were marketed to and perceived as being
for kids — boys, in particular. They weren't Nolan's brand of
serious adult entertainment, but more kid-friendly family
fare ("Batman & Robin," in particular,
was described as a "toy commercial" by those involved.)

Since Schumacher's films pale in comparison to the modern era of
superhero movies, it's easy to overlook the best thing they did —
Gotham City.

The Gotham skyline circa "Batman
Forever."Warner
Bros.

Schumacher's Gotham is unlike anything else committed to film,
something we'll probably never see again. Where Burton depicted
the city as a goth hellscape, Schumacher's was a neon-drenched
theme park, full of giant, dramatic sculptures and impossible
architecture.

If Burton's Gotham was Hot Topic, then this was Spencer's Gifts —
less moody and scary, and more straight-up goofy and fun in a way
that evoked the Adam West TV series or the exuberant weirdness of
Batman's comic book adventures in the '50s and '60s.

Gotham in "Batman & Robin."Warner Bros.

What's incredible about "Arkham Knight" is how crazy
similar it is to this specific interpretation of
Gotham.

This Gotham is vibrant and full of character, well-suited to
being something you play through and interact with rather than
passively watch for two hours. On film, a dark, uniform urban
landscape can work, but a big part of playing games is learning
their systems and environments — why wouldn't you want them to
have as much character as possible?

WB
Games

Of course, like the previous "Arkham" games, this Gotham changes
and mutates over the course of the story, showing new shades of
itself as the hours go on. Some are cartoonish, others are
creepy, but for the most part they're all distinct.

Concept art for "Arkham Knight."WB Games

Gotham City is frequently described by comic book creators as a
character unto itself, a very real presence in almost every
Batman story. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to speak
with current "Batman" writer Scott Snyder about his
critically-acclaimed run on the DC comic book with artist Greg
Capullo, and his take on Gotham in particular. Snyder sees Gotham
as a mirror, something that reflects his fears and anxieties of
living in a modern city.

Gotham as depicted in
Snyder and Capullo's "Batman" #2.DC
Entertainment

Similarly, the Gotham of Frank Miller's seminal comics is
reminiscent of his native, vice-ridden New York of the '80s, as
Tim Burton's Gotham is a gothic reflection of his distinctive
personal aesthetic.

The streets of Gotham in
Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's "Batman: Year
One."DC
Entertainment

Perhaps then, there is no one true interpretation of Gotham, much
like there is no one true interpretation of Batman — he is Adam
West and Kevin Conroy and Michael Keaton and George Clooney and
Christian Bale (okay, maybe not George Clooney). Gotham is large,
and contains multitudes.

Regardless of how you feel about the plot or gameplay of "Arkham
Knight," its take on Gotham feels rich and full of interesting
stories. In its own way, it fulfills the promise of Schumacher's
films, actually letting you play around on sets designed to sell
toys.

Maybe that's inconsistent with the tone of the story, but who
cares? It's fun as hell.